Who WE ARE

The Humour Foundation was the vision of Jean-Paul Bell, a performer who wanted to use his talents to give back to the community, and General Practitioner Dr Peter Spitzer. They had often talked about the ‘art of medicine.’

They were inspired by meeting Patch Adams, through research on the benefits of humour, the work of Swiss-based Theodora Foundation and Big Apple Clown Care Unit in New York.  Six founding members began the work of setting up the Humour Foundation in 1996, with the aim of promoting the health benefits of humour, primarily through the Clown Doctor project.

A short pilot project was undertaken in 1996 at Royal Hobart Hospital, not long after the Port Arthur massacre. In January 1997, Sydney Children’s Hospital at Randwick became the first hospital to host Clown Doctors.

The major goal was to establish Clown Doctors at all major children’s hospitals in Australia, and increase the days Clown Doctors were in each hospital to at least three days a week.

Founding Members: Peter Barker, Jean-Paul Bell, Peter Spitzer, Leonie Leonard, Judy Spitzer, Elisabeth Barker